Volvo will launch its new Volvo V40 at the Geneva motor show in March. The five-door hatchback will give Volvo a much-needed rival to the BMW 1-series and Audi A3 and is spied here in winter testing for a second time.
The Volvo V40’s launch was confirmed in December by Volvo CEO Stefan Jacoby. The V40 will be based on a development of the front-drive ‘P1’ platform that underpins the C30, S40 and V50 models. The V40 is set to replace both the S40 and V50 in Volvo’s line-up, but the future of the three-door C30 is less clear.
The V40 is tipped to be the first car to get Volvo’s new range of modular four-cylinder VEA (Volvo Environmental Architecture) engines, which will be no greater than 2.0 litres in capacity.
The car was made a priority by Jacoby when he joined the firm from Volkswagen last year. It has been pushed up the product cycle ahead of a replacement for the ageing XC90 full-size SUV.
Volvo insiders have indicated to Autocar in the past that the firm is desperate to compete in one of Europe’s largest market segments and consider making such a car “an open goal”.
Autocar understands the car will be marketed at young, active families and will be a premium product within the Golf class. Such billing will also appeal to the North American market, which Volvo is keen to expand in further.
Volvo will also launch a baby SUV, called XC40 and based on an all-wheel-drive version of the P1 platform. There may be two different versions of the XC34: a standard-wheelbase version for Europe and a stretched model for China and, perhaps, North America. A four-door version of the V40 for China is another possibility, a car which would be a direct replacement for the S40.
